Written for The Argo by Esmeralda Rivera

With another month gone, Stockton’s seniors are getting closer and closer to leaving for good— unless they go to Stockton’s grad program. But even then, undergraduate life is vastly different. This is especially true for the Greek population of Stockton, whose grad students only have a handful of time to spare for their chapters. The best way to close off March and spend time with their seniors was the annual Greek Week.

Greek Week 2023 took place from Monday, March 27 to Friday, March 23, and adopted a decade theme. All the Greek members, including the co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and the Delta Epsilon Mu Pre-Health fraternity, participated in a series of events hosted throughout the week with the co-host, the founders of the John R. Elliot HERO campaign. All the organizations collected funds to help in promoting designated driving and reducing the risks and consequences involved in driving under the influence.

The week-long celebration also presented a fun competition for all the members, with points awarded to the organizations after every event. In the end, the organizations who racked up the most points all week would win. The organizations were separated into different teams, all assigned a different era to represent: Team 1950s, Team 1960s, Team 1970s, Team 1980s, Team 1990s, and Team 2000s.

On Monday, 160 members of the Greek population gathered at the Campus Center to collect trash on Stockton’s campus. Team 1980s (Alpha Sigma Phi and Tri Sigma) took the lead after finding the most trash, which was a difficult task; that’s good for the environment, but not so much for the organizations that wanted points that day!

On Tuesday, the teams gathered at Alton Auditorium for a competitive game of Jeopardy. The ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s were in the lead, with Sigma Alpha Epsilon placing first, Sigma Delta Tau placing second, and Alpha Sigma Phi placing third.

On Wednesday, the members competed in a series of games in the I-Wing Gym. Games such as Frog, Tree, Bridge, Tug of War, and Drunk Goggles Race were played, among others. The ’90s took the lead after Sigma Delta Tau placed first. Alpha Phi Delta was second, and Sigma Pi tied with Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

On Thursday, the Greeks played an exciting game of Dodgeball at the gym. Hundreds of rubber balls were thrown around the court, keeping the non-playing members on the edge of their seats, especially when there was one member left standing. The rounds ended when Zeta Tau Alpha triumphed against Sigma Delta Tau.

The finale came on Friday, when the members came together to present their choreographed dances, all based on their themes. After the entire week spent rehearsing until the wee hours of the morning, they were able to show off their dance moves. Team 1960s (Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Chi Rho, Delta Epsilon Mu) took the first place prize, Team 1990s (Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Pi) won second, and Team 1980s (Tri Sigma, Alpha Sigma Phi) tied with Team 2000s (Delta Zeta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon) for third place.

Aside from all the events, the organizations prepared themed banners, which were hung in the Campus Center Coffeehouse, and tabled in the Campus Center Food Court to collect donations for the Penny Wars competition. In total, $571.71 was raised for the HERO Campaign through the Penny Wars alone. Zeta Tau Alpha, Sigma Delta Tau, and Delta Phi Epsilon took the three winning places in the banner competition. Zeta Tau Alpha won the Penny Wars, raising $472.68 at their table.

After all the points were added up, Team 1960s took the Greek Week trophy for 2023. There were also three other awards for individual organizations: Sigma Alpha Epsilon won Best Fraternity; Sigma Delta Tau won Best Sorority; and Delta Epsilon Mu took home the prize of Best Professional/Service Organization.

If you are interested in joining a Greek organization, follow @stockton_greeks on Instagram or visit this link for more information.

Tri Sigma is also hosting its annual Paws for a Cause Fashion Show, which will be at the Lakeside Lodge on April 6 at 8 p.m. To enter your pet in the fashion show, you may sign up using this link.

You can also donate to the March of Babies, which will take place in Philadelphia on April 22, using this link.